Republicans on the House Oversight Committee spent much of Wednesday hammering Michael Cohen as a convicted liar whose word should never be trusted. President Trump added that Cohen, his former lawyer and fixer, was only lying "95 percent" of the time, the exception being Cohen's attested lack of direct knowledge of Trump-Russia collusion (though Cohen said he had his "suspicions").
In an interview with Trump broadcast Thursday night, Fox News host Sean Hannity told Trump that Cohen and his lawyer had lied about Hannity being one of Cohen's three legal clients. But Hannity suggested he believed Cohen's earlier assertion about Trump's involvement in a $130,000 hush-money payment to porn actress Stormy Daniels. "I can tell you personally, he said to me at least a dozen times that he made the decision on the payments and he didn't tell you," Hannity told Trump, who agreed.
Hannity had said something similar when Trump lawyer Rudy Giuliani surprised him by revealing that Trump had in fact repaid Cohen and knew about the hush agreement. Cohen testified on Wednesday that nothing happened in the Trump Organization without Trump's knowledge and assent, and that while Trump told him and CFO Allen Weisselberg to figure out how to pay Daniels, he ordered the payment made himself. There's also audio of Cohen telling Trump about the payments; CNN's Don Lemon played it Thursday night.
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
In any case, legal experts are suggesting that Hannity just earned himself a subpoena from the Southern District of New York, and Rep. David Cicilline (D-R.I.) saw the interview as in invitation. Peter Weber
-
Massacre in the favela: Rio’s police take on the gangsIn the Spotlight The ‘defence operation’ killed 132 suspected gang members, but could spark ‘more hatred and revenge’
-
The John Lewis ad: touching, or just weird?Talking Point This year’s festive offering is full of 1990s nostalgia – but are hedonistic raves really the spirit of Christmas?
-
Sudoku hard: November 15, 2025The daily hard sudoku puzzle from The Week
-
How are these Epstein files so damaging to Trump?TODAY'S BIG QUESTION As Republicans and Democrats release dueling tranches of Epstein-related documents, the White House finds itself caught in a mess partially of its own making
-
Will California tax its billionaires?Talking Points A proposed one-time levy would shore up education and Medicaid
-
Trump DOJ sues to block California redistrictingSpeed Read California’s new congressional map was drawn by Democrats to flip Republican-held House seats
-
GOP retreats from shutdown deal payout provisionSpeed Read Senators are distancing themselves from a controversial provision in the new government funding package
-
Catholic bishops rebuke Trump on immigrationSpeed Read ‘We feel compelled’ to ‘raise our voices in defense of God-given human dignity,’ the bishops said
-
House releases Epstein emails referencing TrumpSpeed Read The emails suggest Trump knew more about Epstein’s sex trafficking of underage women than he has claimed
-
A free speech debate is raging over sign language at the White HouseTalking Points The administration has been accused of excluding deaf Americans from press briefings
-
Newsom slams Trump’s climate denial at COP30speed read Trump, who has called climate change a ‘hoax,’ declined to send any officials to this week’s summit
